It is known that hospital personnel encounter problems when moving a patient, e.g. a bedridden invalid, from a bed to a wheelchair. In the absence of any mechanized assistance, it is often necessary to use two people to perform this operation.
Various mechanical aids have already been proposed for enabling a single person to perform this work. In general, such apparatuses operate in a manner similar to that of a forklift truck.
The apparatus described in European patent document EP-A-0 119 976 is a representative example of known mechanical aids. It is constituted by an apparatus including a moving U-shaped chassis, and an elevator column which supports a transverse bar for receiving parallel lifting arms. The transverse bar includes sleeve-shaped means for fixing it to the elevator column and for surrounding the column.
Although the lifting arms are suitable for being displaced vertically in order to transport the person, they cannot be mounted at different heights relative to each other since they are both fixed to the same transverse bar.
Thus, with this type of apparatus, if it is desired to transverse a person sideways while in the sitting position by means of a hammock including supporting straps of different lengths, it is necessary to use a second transverse bar at a different height from the first. Naturally, each transverse bar only receives one lifting arm.
Other apparatuses of this type are described, for example, in the following patent specifications: US-A-2 962 730, FR-A-2 547 721, GB-A-9782/AD 1914, and US-A-3 394 933.
However, as already mentioned, the lifting arms fitted to the apparatuses described in these documents are all at the same height and can only be displaced together, thereby greatly limiting the range of possible applications.
In addition, British patent GB-A-1 414 644 describes an apparatus for giving assistance in climbing stairs, in which foot supports are suitable for being displaced independently from each other. However, this apparatus is unsuitable for moving a person in a lying position or in a sitting position.
The need to modify existing apparatuses in order to increase the number of ways in which they can be used goes against simplifying the work and the speed of action of the person manipulating the apparatus.
Thus, a particular object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by proposing an apparatus which enables patients to be lifted in various positions, without any need to modify the apparatus or to add additional items thereto.